Programs Blog

Author: Grace Augspurger, Middlebury College

Ship’s Log

27 November 2023
Current Position: 35°42.844’S x 174°49.326
Ship’s Heading and Speed: 330 degrees true, 5 knots
Weather: SW wind varying from 10-20 knots, sunny and warm with few clouds

Greetings Landlubbers,

I am writing to you from about 70 miles north of Auckland, due northwest of
Great Barrier Island. It’s currently 1630, and the students and crew are
just out of our first class on board. When we’re sailing, the daily
afternoon class is the only time that all watches are awake and together at
once. Even after just 24 hours at sea, it felt like I hadn’t seen some of my
old housemates from Woods Hole in forever. Today in class, we passed around
some pyrosomes that were pulled up on this morning’s CTD (a cluster of
gelatinous tunicates formed into a hollow tube, whose name translates as
“fire body,” due to their bioluminescence. The ones we got were small enough
to fit in your hand, but one pyrosome discovered off the coast of New
Zealand was big enough for a diver to climb inside!), and practiced seabird
identification and gybing. Finally, Captain Allison briefed us on our
journey so far: we’ve sailed over 100 nautical miles, completed 10 gybes,
and executed  two science deployments as well as six surface stations in
lab.

And here’s an update on C Watch: Last night, from 0100-0700, we stood our
first watch! I was on deck with the 2nd mate Olivia, and Lila and Kaden. We
rotated between steering at the helm, standing lookout on the bow, and going
down below for an hourly boat check. Around 0300, we set the jib, our first
time hoisting a sail as a watch. Up in the lab, Zeke, Leia, and Winslow
identified the zooplankton from the 0000 Neuston tow, also featuring lots of
bioluminescent critters! We ended our watch with a breakfast of oatmeal,
accompanied by real maple syrup brought all the way from Canada by Owen.
Then off to bed. Reading in my bunk before bed (currently reading Two Years
Before the Mast, shoutout Dad!) while my watch says 0800 is a certainly
strange. I guess I’m still a bit of a landlubber myself.

Signed,
Grace Augspurger (Middlebury College)